Photo Gallery
COLUMBIA, S.C. - The Presbyterian College women's basketball team provided another strong defensive performance on Sunday afternoon against South Carolina, but the Blue Hose could not hold off the Gamecocks at Colonial Life Arena and fell, 52-24.
PC moves to 2-4 on the year while South Carolina improves to 4-1.
The Blue Hose held South Carolina to 39.6 percent shooting from the floor and forced 15 Gamecock turnovers, stealing the ball seven times on the day. PC limited the Gamecocks to a season-low 53 field goal attempts and did not allow a South Carolina field goal for a span of 8:44, a stretch that crossed into both halves and saw the Gamecocks miss 11 straight shots.
Sherece Smith (Clemson, S.C.) led PC with eight points and five rebounds. Dria David (Lawrenceville, Ga.) followed with seven points as well. Devin Fothergill (Somerset, Ky.) collected a season-high five rebounds on the day.
Smith knocked down the first two Blue Hose field goals and Shonda Burnside (Gray Court, S.C.) followed with two points in the paint to give PC an opening 6-5 lead. A Karlee Taylor (Asheville, N.C.) three-pointer tied the teams at 9-9 midway through the first half.
From there, the Blue Hose offense ran cold but the defense continued to force turnovers and misses, holding South Carolina to 31 percent shooting and 22 points in the first half to match a season-low in scoring after the first 20 minutes. PC also held South Carolina without a field goal for a span of 4:26 and the last 3:55 before halftime.
The Blue Hose outshot South Carolina in the first half in terms of percentage, making 37.5 percent of their attempts to USC's 31 percent.
The second half began with more PC defense, not allowing a Gamecock to score for the first 4:49. David scored PC's first five points of the half and Mariah Pietrowski (Elizabethton, Tenn.) chipped in with two as well to pull the Blue Hose within seven with 11:41 remaining.
The Gamecocks began to convert from the floor and pulled away despite scoring from Fothergill and David, who led PC with seven points in the second half.
Sunday's game wraps up a three-game road stretch for the Blue Hose as the team returns to Laurens County to host NC Central on Tuesday night. The tip-off from Templeton Center is slated for 7 p.m.
